Climate chaos reigns in Senate

"The motion was carried ‘on the voices’, with Labor’s Senator O’Brien the sole opposing voice against the Greens and Democrats. The Government then called a division to force the Coalition to make a decision. Several minutes into the division, many Liberal Senators had moved across to vote with the Greens and Democrats to reprioritise climate over fossil fuel subsidies, but rapid footwork by Senator Minchin came to the rescue of the oil and coal industries, forcing the Senators back to the Opposition benches."

The text of the motion is appended on the reverse of this release.

"This comes after Climate Change Minister Penny Wong yesterday played a dead bat in Question Time, refusing to say what degree of global warming the Australian Government believes poses too great a risk of catastrophic climate change.

"She kept clinging to Labor’s 2050 emissions target of 60% below 2000 levels, which she must now know will not constrain global temperature rises to below 2C given the tremendous increase in emissions and the progress of the science since that target was first set. To prevent catastrophic climate change, a much more stringent target is required."